The Terror of Losing a Child in a Shopping Mall
Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2009
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
Oh, just look at this dress! It's perfect. You grab it from the rack and turn toward the three floor length mirrors that will help you view it from different angles. Your three-year-old is standing right behind you-then he's not. You turn and look around as your smile slowly fades to be replaced by concern, then outright fear. Mikey? MIKEY! You drop the dress and rush around through the clothing racks, calling his name, then as hysteria takes over you begin screaming and shoving the racks until they tumble over. People begin to stare at the raving mad person you have become.
A saleslady grabs your arm and asks what is wrong. You look at her as though she is an alien from some unknown planet. What does she mean, what is wrong?? Your baby is missing! You scream into her concerned face, "My Baby! Where is my Baby?!" As your terror mounts, your stomach begins to churn and a slow throb begins to work its way up from the back of your neck toward your temples. You take deep breaths and swallow several times to quelch the bile that threatens to rise into your throat and the blackness that threatens to envelop your world. The unimaginable has just happened.
Have you been there? I have. My baby girl was not quite four when I took her shopping in a huge Dallas, Texas Mall. I dared to turn my back and she was gone in just seconds. Running through the store and calling her name brought no results. She had vanished. Concerned shoppers and salesclerks helped in the search, but she was nowhere in the store.
My only daughter, my baby, and I suddenly felt like the unfit mother that I had only read about. My daughter meant the world to me and I had so carelessly allowed her to be taken from me. How could God do this to me? I had only turned my back for a few seconds. How can a child disappear so quickly-without a sound? No scream, no words, no laughter, nothing.
I was told there was a security station down the hall of the mall. I hurried away as tears threatened to blind my view. There just ahead was the security station. My tears came harder as I began to laugh and cry at the same time. A security guard was leaning against the counter talking to my little girl as she sat on the counter with a large rainbow colored lollypop in her tiny hand. The relief that flowed through me from head to toes was indescribable. My whole world made an about face in that one instant that I realized my baby was safe.
"Mommy!" she held out her arms to me as I rushed forward. The security guard smiled at us as I hugged my little girl to my chest. "Thank you so much for finding my baby girl." I whispered through my tears.
"Oh, I didn't find her; she found me. Quite a smart little lady you have there. She came up to me and said she had lost her mommy." He laughed. And I laughed. Then little Freida laughed. It was a good day to go shopping.
Some people think that it's cruel to put halters with leashes on children when you allow them to walk along with you as you shop or walk through the park or zoo. Trust me, it is not cruel. It is better to allow the snide remarks to go in one ear and out the other than to lose a child due to pride. When I take my little grandson shopping or anywhere that he is allowed to walk, he wears a halter and I hold tightly onto the leash and I very seldom take my eyes off him. I would never wish anyone to go through the terror that I went through that fateful day that my daughter walked away from me.
I have never forgotten the horror of little David Walsh and what his family went through.
He will always be a reminder of how quickly children can be abducted and brutally murdered. We must all do what we can to keep our children safe and protected in a world where God allows us to make our own mistakes.
Have you been there? I have. My baby girl was not quite four when I took her shopping in a huge Dallas, Texas Mall. I dared to turn my back and she was gone in just seconds. Running through the store and calling her name brought no results. She had vanished. Concerned shoppers and salesclerks helped in the search, but she was nowhere in the store.
My only daughter, my baby, and I suddenly felt like the unfit mother that I had only read about. My daughter meant the world to me and I had so carelessly allowed her to be taken from me. How could God do this to me? I had only turned my back for a few seconds. How can a child disappear so quickly-without a sound? No scream, no words, no laughter, nothing.
I was told there was a security station down the hall of the mall. I hurried away as tears threatened to blind my view. There just ahead was the security station. My tears came harder as I began to laugh and cry at the same time. A security guard was leaning against the counter talking to my little girl as she sat on the counter with a large rainbow colored lollypop in her tiny hand. The relief that flowed through me from head to toes was indescribable. My whole world made an about face in that one instant that I realized my baby was safe.
"Mommy!" she held out her arms to me as I rushed forward. The security guard smiled at us as I hugged my little girl to my chest. "Thank you so much for finding my baby girl." I whispered through my tears.
"Oh, I didn't find her; she found me. Quite a smart little lady you have there. She came up to me and said she had lost her mommy." He laughed. And I laughed. Then little Freida laughed. It was a good day to go shopping.
Some people think that it's cruel to put halters with leashes on children when you allow them to walk along with you as you shop or walk through the park or zoo. Trust me, it is not cruel. It is better to allow the snide remarks to go in one ear and out the other than to lose a child due to pride. When I take my little grandson shopping or anywhere that he is allowed to walk, he wears a halter and I hold tightly onto the leash and I very seldom take my eyes off him. I would never wish anyone to go through the terror that I went through that fateful day that my daughter walked away from me.
I have never forgotten the horror of little David Walsh and what his family went through.
He will always be a reminder of how quickly children can be abducted and brutally murdered. We must all do what we can to keep our children safe and protected in a world where God allows us to make our own mistakes.
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More commentsI agree with you. My aunt was in a German shop and saw a family loose their daughter. She has never been found 20 years on!Great article and well written - as always.Thanks so much, Connor, for reading and commenting.Sandra
Sandra,Yes, fear, fear in any form . . . bad. Fear of losing a child is the worst of all fears. And I know that my wife fears, and fears fearfully for our little Mikie; he all of 3 1/2.But I am trying to teach her not to fear, for fear replaces faith. Fear, dread, hopelessness,anger, etc. All replace faith. My wife believes that I don't care for my son's welfare because I don't fear enough. But I have faith, faith in the Father, the Father of our fathers. He is the great protector, and because I have seen Him so much in my life protect me and mine in such remarkable consistency, I fear not, for I desire not to have my faithlessness bring damage or harm to those who I am so often not able to protect because of extreme limitations. It is the only way. God bless you and all those with family who honor love with their great concern for those near and dear.Wonderfully stated, Jeff. I, too, have great faith in our Father. He has worked His wonders in my life over and over again.Bless you all.Sandra
hi sandra,this is a pognant reminder of the way it feels to think we have lost a child.the one thing i did that i am glad for, is i didn't let my kids out of the cart until they were about 4. they knew no better, so they would sit where i could be in control. it worked for me, but there were a few scares once they escaped the confines of a carriage or shopping cart.thanks for sharing your story with us,my best regards,sueThanks so much, Sue, for reading and commenting.Have a great week-end.Sandra
Something similar happened to me when I was twelve. My grandma and brother wanted to go for a walk along this 3 mile long beach in France and I said I would come. So we left our three plain towels and walked for about 10 minutes. But then I got bored so I said I would go back, but I couldn't find the towels. I walked up and down the beach for two hours, getting weird looks from people because I was crying but no-one asking me what was wrong, before I went to the lifegaurd. Apparantly my brother and grandma were at the lifguards station two miles away. When I saw them again I was so happy I started crying.Thanks, Eleanor, and welcome to searchwarp. I guess even twelve-year-olds can get lost and it would be just as frightening as it would be for one smaller.I'm glad things worked out well for you.Sandra
You made my blood run cold for a moment as I remembered an almost identical incident with my son -45 minutes of panic scouring Sears until finally the store guard that was helping me told me that she found out he was all the way at the other end of the mall at the Info Center eating ice cream.Amen to the leashes- people who don't like it can keep their judgments to themselves. ValThanks, Val. And I'm glad you agree with me about the leaches. It is so much better to have your children safe than worry about what other people think about the way you keep track of them.Sandra
Hi Sanra, I think this is such a common thing. Those little kiddies can be fast on their feet! I am in favor of leashes as well! My son got away from me at the park during our church picnic. I still feel the panic if I let me thoughts take me there.Thank you for sharing. I do see more and more of them being used. It is a good thing. Blessings, TeresaThanks, Tereasa. I guess there are far more people who have gone through this than we could ever imagine.Thanks for reading and commenting.Sandra
Another great story mom, I am just glad I don't remember it and that I got my smarts from you!!! You're the best.. I Love YouWell, thank you, Miss Freida. Glad I found you.Sandra
Great awareness article Sandra. I kept my youngest daughter in a harness. It helped me feel secure and her protected.DeborahThanks, Deborah. I remember when the leash and halter first came out--I saw a few people using them and there were always snide remarks about how 'cruel' it was by different observers. I, myself, never thought of it as cruel--it made good safety sense to me.Thanks for reading and commenting.Sandra
Enjoyed this article very much. I could feel your panic. I hadn't seen your name in a while so I went back through your archives and found this. Hope you are well.Linda DeWitt
Adam Walsh was the little boys name,that was abducted and murdered. Yes i did loose my 4 year old son for about a minute while shopping and it was an absolutely horrible feeling, I could feel my face burning, stomach churning and then i saw him and what a relief...but to not find your child O.M.G. I would go hysterical.
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